TWRP comes to Google’s Pixel, Pixel XL

Developers are hard at work preparing custom ROMs for the Google Pixel and Pixel XL. Unfortunately, you can’t just slap a ROM on your new Pixel phone, as there’s a couple steps to take first. You’ll, of course, need to unlock the bootloader first, but as XDA-Developers points out, the next step is flashing a custom recovery image.

And now that the most popular customer recovery tool is here, TWRP, Pixel owners will be able able to start flashing custom ROMs on their phones.

It’s important to keep in that TWRP for the Pixel and Pixel XL is currently in alpha mode. So, while you’ll be able to use it, there are still some kinks to be worked out. Currently, a pretty major part of it isn’t working properly–restoring data. Sometimes a restore won’t work properly and could wipe all of the data on your phone.

Here’s some of the specifics on that, thanks to lead developer Ethan Yonker, or Dees_Troy over on XDA Developers:

“File Based Encryption (FBE) can be a tricky. If a restore doesn’t work correctly, it can trigger an automatic wipe of your data. I’ve tested it a little on my Pixel XL, but I haven’t had time to test it extensively. Sometimes TWRP will fail to prompt you to enter your password or otherwise fail to set up decrypt properly. If this happens, reboot TWRP. It seems to be some kind of timing issue and I haven’t had time to track it down yet.”

That said, unless you know what you’re doing, it’s probably best to shy away from this until the TWRP team can work out a solution.

But, if you want to take your chances, you can find the download links below. You can also find some guides on how to install it at the source link below as well as on the official TWRP pages.

Brad is a tech enthusiast, writing and tinkering with all things technology since 2011. He currently bounces between the LG G3 and his beloved Moto X! His interests include reading, entrepreneurship, the gym, and of course, queso.